On Monday, February 4, 2013, at the Nashville TN Federal Courthouse, the Marilyn and Gerry Campbell Medical Marijuana trial continued on to March 18, 2013 because the judge wants to explore the federal guidelines, technicalities and sentencing on a number of issues; size of the plants, the guns found in their country home and if the ‘safety valve’ applies in their case.

When I met Marilyn in the hallway outside the courtroom that Monday, she said, “Google The Price of Pain and my name for more info on the story”. So here’s an excerpt below. The Barbra mentioned in the story is Marilyn’s daughter, Barbara Broads, a business owner in Woodbury, TN. Marilyn is on the agenda to speak at our next NORMLTN meeting, Sunday February 10th, 2 p.m. at the Sunset Grill in Nashville.

Shattered glass.

Gerry Campbell had a horrible accident in 1999. He ran off the Auburntown Road and his truck wrapped like a horseshoe around a tree. Responders thought he was dead when they arrived on the scene. He was immediately transported to a trauma unit. Usually if you’re there, you either die or spend a day or two at the most and transfer out, but he stayed ten days. Then he was moved to ICU for a couple of weeks, with a “turkey timer” stuck in his shaved head to monitor brain swelling. Then he moved down to a regular hospital room, then on to rehab for three months. By all rights he should have died.

His is not an uncommon story, but what happened later, as you know, is. When Gerry got out of the hospital, he was taking mega pain pills and his quality of life was poor. A lot of pain medications destroy the liver plus he had the additional complication of Hepatitis C, a liver disease.

If he had been taking the heavy pain drugs all the time compounding the liver issues with Hepatitis C, no question he would have died with liver failure years ago. His liver is said to be 70% compromised. Of course when your liver goes, you’re dead. So what does an old hippie in pain do? The recreational user turned to what he knew would work, marijuana, to mitigate the pain and make it more bearable. He starts making his own medicine, which meant growing his own, for survival.

It was said he was able to cut down on some of the other harmful medication by substituting some of it with the marijuana. To this day, he’s on prescription drugs, not morphine, but something similar, for the times when the pain is nearly unbearable. If he can get by with just medicating with marijuana, then that’s a bonus day for his liver. Medicating illegally, of course, since that marijuana has not been approved for medical use in the state of Tennessee.

People know people.

Marilyn Greene has been a practicing midwife for over 30 years. A midwife and alternative healer, she found herself helping people when mainstream ways were often unsuccessful. She found Gerry Campbell, a kindred spirit, and they married.

Gerry’s wife Marilyn had a lot of contacts and they had a lot of friends. She ran upon people, and people who knew other people, that were dying of cancer or had other debilitating illnesses, or rather, they found her. Next thing you know, they were growing enough for other people to use, too. Barbara stated, “They were not selling the drugs to people who were sick, they were giving it away.”

Barbara stated, “I have an inkling that I know even back then, I knew who some of these people were, because there were people around when I was growing up that now I know had cancer or have died from cancer in recent years. I am sure it started with some of the people I knew growing up that were sick.” “It’s a given that one cancer patient will know at least ten more cancer patients, and those people know people. All these people are desperate. They are all broke, and they are all hurting. And if they can get any relief, they’re going to take it. And if you’re dying, you really don’t even care what it is. Especially if it helps you live longer, and helps you not be as miserable.

“It mushrooms on you. You try and help one person, so they say, ‘you’re helping me and it’s helping, and I know you, and I know you’re having…AIDS problems or hepatitis problems, or whatever, maybe not the same problem as me…and I’m going to say, ‘I’ve got this friend, can you give them some too?’ “And they were giving it to these people.